The invention relates generally to penetrators and methods of manufacturing penetrators. More specifically, the invention relates to penetrators suitable for high volume production and high volume manufacturing processes.
Previous methodologies used to create penetrators from metals other than lead have proven to be restrictively slow and unsuitable for high volume production. For example, one prior art manufacturing process machines penetrators from steel bar; a bar of material is fed through a single spindle machining center, and all attributes of the penetrator are machined. The finished penetrator is then parted off, leaving a small tail which is later removed in a secondary deburring process. The process is very stable and adjustable, and tooling usage is limited to cutting inserts for the toolbars. One drawback of this process is the surface footage limitation of cutting the material, which is necessary to maintain a desirable surface finish. The prior art process is time intensive and requires a large number of individual machines committed to production in order to meet practical quantity requirements.